The present invention relates to the general field of fabricating blade platforms out of composite material with integrated gaskets for a turbine engine fan.
Fan blade platforms for turbine engines, in particular turbojets, are arranged between fan blades so as to extend the inlet cone of a fan. They serve in particular to define the inside of the annular passage for admitting air into the fan, this passage being defined on the outside by a casing.
Such fan blade platforms may be separate fittings or they may be integrated directly with the bases of the fan blades, between the tangs extending their and their airfoils.
Proposals have already been made for making such platforms out of composite material. By way of example, reference may be made to Document WO 2013/088041, which describes making a fiber preform of π-shaped section in particular for a composite material fan blade platform by using a fiber structure obtained as a single piece by three-dimensional weaving and having both a portion that forms an airfoil preform and also another portion that forms stiffener legs.
Document WO 2013/104852 also discloses a method of fabricating a composite material fan blade having platforms integrated therein. In that document, the fan blade is made from a fiber preform obtained as a single piece by three-dimensional weaving and having both a portion that forms an airfoil preform and also another portion that forms a platform preform.
Furthermore, it is known to fit fan blade platforms with gaskets for providing sealing between the platforms and the blades between which they are arranged. The purpose of such gaskets is to limit losses of aerodynamic performance associated with recirculating air.
Typically, such gaskets are adhesively bonded to each of the side margins of the platform via a film of adhesive extending over the entire length of the platform. However, adhesively bonding such gaskets is an operation that is both complicated and requires a large amount of time. Furthermore, the gaskets rapidly tend to become unstuck.